The killing of Walter Scott in North Charleston, S.C., has rightfully resulted in police officer Michael Slager being charged with murder. But Slager’s prosecution alone won’t be enough to lead to systemic reform. The US Department of Justice should investigate the North Charleston police department in the same vigorous manner that it examined the police department in Ferguson, Mo., following the shooting of Michael Brown.
Slager, of course, deserves his day in court, but a video of the incident taken by bystander Feidan Santana showing the white police officer gunning down an unarmed black suspect is as damning as it is shameful. Slager’s defense will most likely focus on what the video does not show: the full encounter between the men, especially an alleged tussle over the Taser.
Criminal prosecutions of police officers are rare — only 2 percent are charged with the use of excessive force. Trying Slager will warn police officers nationwide that there is a high personal cost for engaging in what experts call preventable force. But few police officers, less than .002 percent of those charged, are found guilty in such cases.
The Justice Department must investigate whether there has been misconduct by other officers in North Charleston. Since Slager’s arrest, there have been troubling allegations that police officers lied about giving Scott CPR. The National Bar Association is demanding that Clarence Habersham, an officer who arrived on the scene after the shooting, be fired and indicted for filing a false police report. Habersham’s brief account of the incident stated that he aided Scott, but the video shows he did not perform CPR. He also failed to mention that Slager apparently moved a Taser from where it had originally fallen to near Scott’s face-down body.
A Justice Department investigation would reveal whether the aggressive police patrols the city implemented several years ago in an attempt to reduce the crime rate constitute racial profiling or have had a disproportionate impact on blacks. A 2012 story in a local newspaper, The Post and Courier, described the police activity as “incessant stops of motorists for minor violations, seemingly random interviews with residents, a virtual police occupation of neighborhoods in the days just after violence occurs.”
The Justice Department’s report on Ferguson provided insight into how the city’s drive to generate revenue from traffic tickets and court fees affected mostly black residents. As a result, the old system of fines was discarded. In March, new limits were placed on the fees and fines that defendants can be charged for traffic, animal control, or housing ordinance violations.
A federal investigation in North Charleston could also look at ways to promote more diversity in the city’s police force. As in Ferguson, African-Americans in North Charleston are underrepresented in the most powerful positions. Less than 20 percent of North Charleston’s police force and 33 percent of its city council members are black, compared with 47 percent of the overall population.
Since the Justice Department’s report on Ferguson was released in March, more residents there are participating in public life. Earlier this month, 29 percent of eligible voters — more than double the percentage that voted in last year’s mayoral race — elected two new black city council members, raising their representation to 50 percent in a city that is 60 percent black. The council will hire a new city manager and police chief, who will be responsible for implementing reforms ordered by the federal government.
A Justice Department investigation in North Charleston could foster similar changes, and maybe lead to a day when people who are supposed to be protected by police will no longer become their targets.
Related:
• Editorial: Is S.C. police shooting an aberration or all too normal?
• Renee Graham: Video does not guarantee justice
• Michael P. Jeffries: Ferguson must force us to face anti-blackness
• After Ferguson report, police nationwide need to embrace reform
Freelance writer Susan E. Reed can be reached at thediversityindex@gmail.com.